CompTIA: Cloud is Fully Ingrained Among Enterprises

IT trade industry association CompTIA has revealed that more than nine out of 10 companies are currently using some form of cloud computing solution for their enterprise, meaning cloud has now become fully ingrained in the modern IT landscape. But while cloud offers companies many inherent benefits, including cost reductions and increased mobility, there are many users who continue to struggle as they look to build out their cloud capabilities.

The findings come from CompTIA’s Fifth Annual Trends in Cloud Computing study, which polled 400 individual IT and business professionals in the United States and an additional 400 executives from U.S. IT firms. The study was conducted in June and July and found that companies who attempt to advance their cloud capabilities beyond that of the basic user are more likely to run into trouble migrating and integrating their solutions.

“This may come as a surprise to some firms, as they may hold an expectation that the initial migration and integration posed the largest obstacles to smooth cloud operations,” said Seth Robinson, senior director, Technology Analysis at CompTIA, in a statement.

In companies that have progressed from the initial experimental stage of cloud computing to what is considered a non-critical use stage, 28 percent rated the transition as requiring significant effort, according to the study. For users moving from full production completely through the progression to a transformed IT stage, the number of companies experiencing difficulty jumped to 63 percent.

“The bulk of the cost and effort for any IT project is typically consumed by integration and cloud computing is no different,” said Robinson. “If anything, cloud integration may be even more challenging, as it requires web APIs that may be unfamiliar to the technical team. Integration may be further complicated by lines of business procuring their own applications without being aware of how they will fit into the overall system.”

However, many users agree that despite the challenge of moving their systems to the cloud, the cost savings resulting from cloud computing are significant enough to warrant the hassle. Furthermore, many companies have even begun relying on cloud computing services for everyday business processes, including 59 percent for storage, 48 percent for business continuity and disaster recovery and 44 percent for security, according to the study.

Some companies have even become proficient enough at using cloud computing that they have begun making secondary cloud migrations, according to CompTIA. A reported 44 percent of companies say they have moved their infrastructure from one public cloud to another since utilizing the service, while an additional 25 percent moved from public to a private cloud. Another 24 percent moved from a public cloud back to an on-premise solution.

It isn’t surprising that enterprises digging deeper into the cloud equation will struggle to implement new offerings—the same could be expected of any relatively new advanced technology solution. What is more interesting is that some users choose to return to their legacy on-premise solutions after getting a taste of what cloud can do. More than anything, the study attests to the importance of providing a variety of solutions for IT companies, as there has yet to be a one-size-fits-all solution to building enterprise infrastructure.

“The primary takeaway from all this movement is that no one model is the best answer for every workload,” Robinson concluded. “Companies will be utilizing every type of system as they find the multi-cloud approach that works for them.”